


Courage Will Pull Us Through

by Halmaithor



Series: Our Hearts are True [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Pokemon Ocs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29850372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halmaithor/pseuds/Halmaithor
Summary: After they ascend back to the ground floor of the temple, they stop briefly for risotto and hot chocolate in the café, before making their obligatory touristy round of the gift shop. Unsurprisingly, Alec's eyes are quickly drawn to a display of evolution stones. 'They really sell these things everywhere, huh,' he murmurs, lifting Elsa up again so she can see.She only gives them a cursory look before curling up and embarking on her third nap of the day, and Alec suppresses a sigh.Alec and Magnus take a trip to Snowpoint City, and Alec worries about Elsa's reluctance to pick an evolutionary form.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Our Hearts are True [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2156586
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Courage Will Pull Us Through

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ColorfulWarlock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColorfulWarlock/gifts).



> Happy birthday to ColorfulWarlock, my darling parabatai. <3 I wanted to get this up before midnight your time, aha. Fun fact, this was actually the installment our original conversations inspired, I just had to tell the rest of the story to get here first ;) I hope you like it babe!! ^^ 
> 
> (Title is once again from the Pokemon theme song)

‘So I don’t even get a hint?’ Alec tries, not for the first time.  
At his side, Magnus laughs. ‘No, darling. Incomplete work means sloppy, half-baked conclusions, and I refuse to spread those, no matter how informal the setting. Besides, you’re already getting to see the paper as soon as it’s submitted. You don’t even have to wait for it to be published!’

Alec shakes his head. ‘Unbelievable. You hearing this, Elsa?’ He looks down at the bundle of brown fluff in his arms, having to try even harder to control his smile when two large, dark eyes blink up at him. 'All that work we put in - twice! - and we only get to know the results two days before the rest of the world.' He shoots his best scowl at Magnus, who's looking thoroughly amused now. 'I'm gonna lodge a formal complaint.’  
'Oh, don't be such a sourpuss, darling,' Magnus chuckles, swerving closer and pressing a quick kiss to Alec's cheek; which is nice, even though it cools strangely quickly in the mountain air. A few steps behind them, Chairman Meow yowls in displeasure as the detour apparently disrupts his careful pattern of walking in Magnus' footsteps, his tiny snowboots leaving miniscule footprints in each of the larger ones. 'Let's not ruin the mood, hm?' Magnus says brightly, brazenly ignoring the Chairman’s complaints. 'I thought you were excited to see the temple?'

At that, Alec has to incline his head in acknowledgement. The Snowpoint Temple was something that fascinated him as a child, some combination of its history and forbidden status latching on to his imagination. That it's open now is nothing short of a miracle - either it's the best long-con marketing ploy Sinnoh's ever known, or there's a grain of truth to the notion that some ten-year-old came and woke the beasts that previously had slumbered there for centuries.  
Honestly, the more Alec hears about the journeys kids are on these days, the more nervous he gets when Max goes a few weeks without sending a postcard.

  
***  
  


They wander through the quiet temple for a good couple of hours, taking it in turns to sip from their thermos of salac tea. Their footsteps echo deeper as they descend the levels, and Alec talks Magnus through the runes on the walls and floor ('This one represents Registeel - see the geometry, the rigidity, that apparently comes from the old symbol for silver and -’). A few times he pauses, self-conscious in his ramblings; but when he looks around sheepishly, Magnus is always right there with a serene, interested smile, a prompting question on his lips.  
Something about the freedom to just talk, to share what he's interested in without even a hint of ridicule... well. It sounds unbelievably clichéd, but Alec swears that it warms him even better than the tea.

After they ascend back to the ground floor, they stop briefly for risotto and hot chocolate in the café, before making their obligatory touristy round of the temple's gift shop. Magnus takes the Chairman and Lila straight over to the children's toys, asking them which they think Casper would enjoy most, since staying behind to help Madzie train means he's missed the trip.  
Alec's considering a similar idea for Shadow, and glances around hopefully; but – unsurprisingly – his eyes are quickly drawn to a display of evolution stones instead. 'They really sell these things everywhere, huh,' he murmurs, lifting Elsa up again so she can see. She only gives them a cursory look before curling up and embarking on her third nap of the day, and Alec suppresses a sigh.

He'll never force her to evolve, or pressure her, of course – but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't hoping for her to make a choice sooner rather than later. The irregular eating patterns, the waves of fatigue she gets, the way she sometimes just doesn't _listen_ to him now... If the Pokémon Centre hadn't assured him that it was just hormonal changes, driven by an uncommonly fast growth spurt and easily fixed with evolution, he'd be really worried. As it is, he's just glad that it didn't kick in until a few weeks _after_ Magnus' second round of experiments.  
Still, that silver lining isn't quite shiny enough to illuminate a solution the problem they have now - which is that despite Elsa basically “outgrowing” her Eevee form, and despite her confirming that she does _want_ to evolve, she's so far refused all three stones available to her. Alec tried the water stone first, thinking she might like to join the squad, but no dice. The fire stone came next – but apparently, her love of warmth doesn't extend beyond finding a good place to sleep.

And as for the thunder stone... Well, maybe that one wasn't so bad. Sprinting away and barking at it from afar may not have been the _best_ response, but at the same time Alec won't deny the relief he felt when she refused that one.

Magnus reappears, apparently having made his purchases – in the paper bag he's carrying, Alec glimpses a Regigigas-shaped rattle and three sticks of pomeg-flavoured _Reggie Rock_ – and he loops his arm through Alec's with a warm smile. 'All set for Acuity, then?' he asks.  
Alec nods and lets his boyfriend lead him out of the gift shop, trying to put thoughts of Elsa's evolution out of his mind for the time being.

  
***  
  


Alec frowns out at the horizon. 'Magnus, are you sure we didn't make a wrong turn?'  
Magnus’ steps slow, his eyes darting about. ‘Well,’ he says measuredly, ‘I’m _less_ sure than I was ten minutes ago. We really ought to be there by now.’

Alec snorts quietly, looping an arm around Magnus’ shoulders. ‘So much for your impeccable sense of direction,’ he teases.  
‘Hey,’ Magnus protests, though a grin is twitching at his mouth. ‘You’re hardly one to talk.’  
‘Yeah, but at least I admit it,’ Alec reasons. ‘Why else do you think I chose a flying-type partner instead of a water-type? Shadow keeps me – ’

He’s interrupted as a streak of dark blue zooms past him. ‘What-’  
But he doesn’t get another word out before he’s knocked down into the snow.

‘Alexander!’ he hears, before a thump beside him signals that Magnus is down too – and that gives Alec the impetus to drag his winded breathing back under control and push himself up.  
The Sneasel that knocked them down stands not too far away, now stock-still, holding Magnus’ backpack.

‘Fuck.’ Alec clutches Elsa close to his chest, his brain spinning – they’ve wandered into Sneasel territory totally unprepared, what was he _thinking_ not borrowing Cat’s Glalie or Abomasnow –  
‘Lila, no!’ Magnus calls, but it’s too late – Lila is stood between the two of them and the Sneasel, hissing at full volume and immediately on the attack.

Alec pushes up to his feet, pulling Magnus up too. ‘She’s a Psychic type, she’ll – ’  
‘I know that,’ Magnus snaps, ‘but there’s not much I can do to stop her, so – ’ He turns back to the scrap that’s happening in front of them. ‘Lila, on your right!’  
Lila dodges, feints, follows Magnus’ commands and stands her ground – until the Sneasel lands a hit on her ribs and she goes flying backwards, landing with a shriek at Magnus’ feet and not moving.  
Magnus scoops her up, his eyes going wide. ‘Fuck. Alec, this is poisoned – where the fuck did it learn a poison-type move - ?’

Another flash of dark blue around them, and the Sneasel is now holding all of their bags; but it doesn’t run off with its prize, just throws the bags behind it and continues to eye its prey intently. Alec’s stomach sinks. At this rate, it won’t be appeased until it’s knocked them all out and lifted everything it can, leaving them out here to freeze to death.  
Magnus takes half a step forward, body turned towards Alec even as his eyes stay fixed on the Sneasel. ‘Go. Take Lila to Cat and bring back help. Chairman and I’ll hold it off.’  
‘Like hell,’ Alec growls. ‘Leave me the Chairman, you go. You’re faster.’  
‘Chairman listens to me better,’ Magnus shoots back. ‘Alec, we don’t have time for this – ’  
‘Right, which is why you need to – ’  
The Sneasel lunges for them, and Alec dives for Magnus, turning to shield him –

But the blow never comes.  
Alec looks around again; and his jaw drops. ‘Elsa!’

Elsa’s somehow squirmed out of his arms in his haste to get to Magnus, and she’s now stood in front of them, side-by-side with the Chairman, hackles raised as the Sneasel rolls back up to its feet. She’s shaking on her feet, but she’s upright… and she’s _glowing._  
She yaps, and the two of them descend.

The snow is kicked up in a flurry of movement, Chairman screeching and clawing viciously at the Sneasel, Elsa darting in and biting at its unguarded side whenever she can; Alec watches silently, stunned, afraid to say anything that might distract them from the upper hand they’ve gained.  
And then Elsa jumps, higher than should be possible, twisting in the air, and her glow suddenly _flashes –_

And then she’s landing a double-kick attack in a blur of light blue, her ossicones flying behind her. She barely lands before she’s leaping up again and bellowing a blast of icy wind straight into the Sneasel’s face.

The Sneasel falls to the ground, now encased in ice.  
And Alec’s Glaceon looks up at him proudly, before trotting off to fetch the bags.

  
***

  
Three hours later, they’re home and have all been patched up accordingly. Alec is now sat on Cat’s absurdly comfortable sofa – and it’s lucky that he doesn’t actually _want_ to move, because both Magnus and Elsa have fallen asleep with their heads in his lap.  
He cradles his large mug of Galarian Brunch tea in his hands, letting the warmth seep into his bones as he gazes out of the window, smiling fondly at the sight of Madzie introducing her Spheal and Castform to the Froslass that occasionally visits Catarina’s garden.

There’s a small chirp, and Alec glances down and hushes Elsa. ‘Don’t wake Magnus, sweetheart,’ he murmurs. ‘Let him sleep, at least until Cat gets back from the gym. Okay?’  
Elsa gets to her feet and stretches, yawning widely. But her answering purr is soft and she settles back down easily enough – this time, looking up at Alec, her eyes half-closed in obvious contentment.  
Alec takes a moment to marvel at her, one hand drifting down to scritch behind her ears, trace gently down her ossicones. ‘Look at you,’ he whispers. ‘You did so well today, you know that? I’m proud of you.’ He bites back a chuckle. ‘Even if you scared me half to death taking on the Sneasel like that.’  
Elsa chirrups quietly and stretches upwards, nosing at his cheek in an apparent gesture of comfort, her now-shorter and -thicker whiskers scratching lightly over his skin.  
He smiles. ‘So, Glaceon, huh?’ he says. ‘Nice choice. I don’t know how deliberate it was, given the circumstances, but still. You happy with it?’  
Her tail gives an answering wag, and Alec grins as the air in its path drops a few degrees in temperature. Starting tomorrow, they’ll have to take some time to refamiliarise themselves with her shifted abilities.

But for now, they just sit in Cat’s quiet living room, and watch the snow falling outside.

**Author's Note:**

> Second fun fact: I actually decided on the name 'Elsa' and that she'd be a Glaceon independently lol. I like the name Elsa, and Hika likes ice types. The Frozen reference is purely coincidental. XD 
> 
> Thank you for reading, do please let me know what you thought! ^^
> 
> [Find me on tumblr: silver-lily-louise](www.silver-lily-louise.tumblr.com)


End file.
